APPLE Macintosh users in Hong Kong now have a monthly magazine in Chinese. Called InfoMac, it was first released in Taiwan in April last year. The magazine's publishers said InfoMac had the potential to reach a wide network of Macintosh users in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China. The magazine will be available next month in Beijing, according to Lilian Chan, marketing manager of Free Link Trading Co, the magazine's local representatives. InfoMac is in the process of setting up an editorial team in Hong Kong. ''The Hong Kong market is, potentially, bigger than the Taiwan market,'' Ms Chan said. Rico Ebron, system operator of Hong Kong Mac User Group Bulletin Board Service (HKMUGBBS), said: ''InfoMac offers a lot of potential being the first monthly Chinese magazine dedicated to Mac users. ''Though I find the first issue a little messy, it can be a useful source of information for local people whose level of English is low. ''So, it is nice to see a new magazine coming up to cater to Chinese readers. We welcome more new magazines as it will mean better competition - which will be good for Mac users,'' he said. ''The magazine has a lot of updated and technical articles, which is also a good development.'' However, Mr Ebron said local readers could have difficulty in understanding Taiwan slang and jargon. Ms Chan said the editors were already aware of this problem and were simplifying difficult jargon and colloquial Mandarin terms. ''We know that the strength of our magazine lies in its ability to deliver current information to as wide a number of Mac users as possible,'' she said. ''Our magazine is aiming at less sophisticated users and designers.'' Ms Chan said the magazine had a close association, but no formal ties, with Apple Taiwan. Although there was no link with Apple's Hong Kong subsidiary, Ms Chan was confident the magazine would be able to build one. A spokesman for Apple in Hong Kong said that while Apple Taiwan had no financial association with InfoMac, it had given its support and co-operation to the magazine. The spokesman said the company would be happy to come to a similar arrangement in Hong Kong. Henry Lau, production director for MdN International - the Macintosh Designers' Network magazine published by System Design, which has articles in English and Chinese - said InfoMac was not seen as a competitor. ''Our magazine is fully dedicated to designers; it is a totally different, a specialised product,'' Mr Lau said. ''Our emphasis is on digital design. We are not targeting programmers and other general users for whom InfoMac may be quite informative. ''Our magazine also offers recent developments for designers who use Mac as well as IBM-compatible personal computers.'' InfoMac is priced at $45 per issue and has about 120 pages.
